Phase 2 of Sanibel Beach renourishment project set to begin

Eric Jackson, Sanibel’s Public Information Officer, is encouraging residents and visitors to still come to the beach.

“People need to come back and enjoy what this island is all about,” said Jackson.

But first, the island needs to move some sand, about 100,000 tons of it.

The second phase of Sanibel’s Beach renourishment project started Tuesday morning at Lighthouse Beach Park, and visitors are excited to see the island finally moving forward.

“We love coming down here. We always make the drive so we can save money on the flight, spend more money here and stay at nicer places,” said visitor Aaron Morrow.

And for Morrow, coming down from Ohio is worth the drive.

“Overall, I feel like they’ve done a good job rebuilding and having more of, like, a teamwork ethic; just bring the whole island back to it,” Morrow said.

After taking a pause for renourishment from hurricanes Helene and Milton, crews are back to work from sunrise to sunset.

“We’ve had a rough summer. I mean, we had we had a tropical storm come through. We had the two hurricanes. And this island is resilient. This is part of that resiliency project, [which] is building up this beach to make it stronger and even help the interior structures,” said Jackson.

However, as construction begins, Jackson has one simple ask of visitors coming to soak up the sun and sand.

“It’s so important that as you’re out here enjoying this, that you’re listening to the people that are working out here. If they say to stay back while they’re moving the sand, please do so,” he said.

But that’s not stopping visitors from enjoying what they can.

“So far, I feel like, [it’s] so pretty here. I can’t see any debris or anything like that. I think it’s very good, especially after COVID, like after tough times, to get back out here and have fun and begin the sun. I think it’s a good thing,” a visitor said.